Zurich – Basel – Paris

On October 31, 1933 at 11:20 AM, Zurich – Basel – Paris experienced a crash involving Farman F.301, operated by Air France, with the event recorded near Étobon Haute-Saône.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

5 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 3 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 40.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 2, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. The airplane departed Zurich (Dübendorf) on a flight to Paris with an intermediate stop in Basel. It was carrying four chamois, 132 kilos of various goods, 239 kilos of gold and 20 kilos of mail. The crew departed Basel-Sternenfeld Airport at 1030LT in good weather conditions. But some 50 minutes into the flight, those conditions worsened and the visibility became poor due to fog. While cruising at an altitude of some 600 metres, the aircraft impacted trees and crashed in a wooded area located on a hillside in Étobon, 12 km west of Belfort. A passenger and the radio navigator were killed while all three other occupants were injured. A chamois should be killed due to his injuries while all three others animals went away. All goods, gold and mail were recovered. The aircraft was named 'L'Étoile d'argent'. Crew: Gaston Lafannechère, pilot, Mr. Bloquet, mechanic, Camille Suply, radio navigator. The passenger killed was Mr. Werner Spoerri, a Swiss pharmacist leaving in Einsideln.

Aircraft reference details include registration F-AJMI, MSN 7184.4, year of manufacture 1930.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 47.6442°, 6.6750°.